WOMAN^S 

SUFFRAGE 



IN 

ILLINOIS 


P. J. LUCEY 

Attorney General 


[Printed by authority of the State of Illinois.] 


July, 1916 







WOMAN’S 

SUFFRAGE 

IN 

ILLINOIiS 



Tw- 


P. J. LUCEY 

Attorney General 


[Printed by authority of the State of Illinois.] 


July, 1916. 


.IsAS 



ScHNEPP k Barnes, State Pript-ters 
Springfield, III. 

1016. 


n. of D. 

DEC 23 tgio 



PREFACE. 


Frequent requests are made to this depart¬ 
ment for information and opinions in regard 
to woman’s suffrage in Illinois. While these 
inquiries frequently do not come from official 
sources, so that it is no part of my official duties 
to answ^er them, I believe that the public in¬ 
terest requires me so to do, and I have furn¬ 
ished information and given unofficial opinions 
upon questions arising under the laws relating 
to woman’s suffrage in Illinois, whenever I 
could consistently do so without interjecting 
my views into a local controversy. 

I am of the opinion that the issuance and 
general distribution of a pamphlet containing 
information and suggestions as to the woman’s 
suffrage law in this State would be of con¬ 
venience and assistance, and therefore I have 
prepared this pamphlet. 

P. J. Lu('Ey, Attorney Generals 







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WOMAN’S SUFFRAGE ACT OF 1891. 

An Act to entitle women to vote at any election 
held lor the purpose of choosing any officer 
under the general or special school laios of 
this State. [Approved June 10, 1891.] 

Section 1. Be it enacted hy the People of the 
State of Illinois, represented in the General 
Assembly: Any woman of the age of twenty- 
one years and upwards, belonging to either of 
the classes mentioned in Article 7 . of the Con¬ 
stitution of the State of Illinois, who shall 
have resided in this State one year, in the 
county ninety days, and in the election district 
thirty days preceding any election held for the 
purpose of choosing any officer of schools under 
the general or special school laws of this State, 
shall be entitled to vote at such election in the 
school district of which she shall at the time 
have been for thirty days a resident: Provided. 
any woman so desirous of voting at any such 
election shall have been registered in the same 
manner as is provided for the registration of 
male voters. 

§ 2. Whenever the election of public school 
officers shall occur at the same election at 
which other public officers are elected, the bal¬ 
lot offered by any woman entitled to vote under 
this act shall not contain the name of any per¬ 
son to be voted for at such election except such 
officers of public schools, and such ballots shall 
all be deposited in a separate ballot box, but 
canvassed with other ballots cast for school 
officers at such election. 

Hurd’s Statutes, 1916, chapter 46, paragraphs 
332, 333. 

SCHOOL ACT OF 1909. 

Section 270 of “An Act to establish and main¬ 
tain a system of free schools,” approved and in 
force June 12, 1909: 

“Any woman who is a citizen and has at¬ 
tained to the age of 21 years, who shall have 


G 


resided in the State one year, in the county 
ninety days and in the election district thirty 
days preceding any election held for the purpose 
of choosing any school officer under the general 
or special school laws of this State, shall be 
entitled to vote at such election, when regis¬ 
tered in the manner provided by law. If the 
election of school officers shall occur at the time 
other public officers are elected, the ballot 
offered by any woman shall contain only the 
names of candidates for school officers. Such 
ballots shall be deposited in a separate ballot 
box, but canvassed with other ballots cast for 
school officers at such election.” 

Hurd’s Statutes, 1916, chapter 122, para¬ 
graph 270. 

WOMAN’S SUFFRAGE ACT OF 1913. 

An Act grantmg icomen the right to vote for 
presidential electors and certain other officers, 
and to participate and vote in certain matters 
and elections. [Approved June 26, 1913.] 
Section 1. Be it enacted hy the People of the 
State of Illinois, represented in the General 
Assembly: That all women, citizens of the 
United States above the age of twenty-one 
years, having resided in the State one year, in 
the county ninety days, and in the election dis¬ 
trict thirty days next preceding any election 
therein shall be allowed to vote at such election 
for presidential electors, members of the State 
Board of Equalization, clerk of the Appellate 
Court, county collector, county surveyor, mem¬ 
bers of board of assessors, members of board 
of review, sanitary district trustees, and for all 
officers of cities, villages and towns (except 
police magistrates), and upon all questions or 
propositions submitted to a vote of the electors 
of such municipalities or other political divi¬ 
sions of this State. 

§ 2. All such women may also vote for the 
following township officers: supervisor, town 
clerk, assessor, collector and highway commis¬ 
sioner, and may also participate and vote in all 


annual and special town meetings in the 
township in which such election district shall 
be. 

§ 3. Separate ballot boxes and ballots shall 
be provided for women, which ballots shall 
contain the names of the candidates for such 
offices which are to be voted, for and the 
special questions submitted as aforesaid, and 
the ballots cast by women shall be canvassed 
with the other ballots cast for such officers 
and on such questions. At any such election 
where registration is required, women shall 
register in the same manner as male voters. 

Hurd’s Statutes, 1916, chapter 46, paragraphs 
546-548. 

Held constitutional in Scoivu v. Czarnecki, 
264 Ill., 305. 

QUALIFICATIONS OF WOMEN VOTERS. 

To be a qualified voter, a woman must be a 
citizen of the United States, above the age of 
twenty-one years, must have resided in the 
State one year, in the county ninety days, and 
thirty days in the election district in which she 
desires to vote. 

Foreign-born women, who are otherwise 
qualified and who have married natural born or 
naturalized citizens of the United States, be¬ 
come citizens for voting purposes. 

Foreign-born women whose parents become 
naturalized after they have reached their ma¬ 
jority are not citizens of the United States. 

Foreign-born women whose parents have be¬ 
come naturalized before such women reach 
their majority are citizens of the United States. 

A woman born in the United States of for¬ 
eign parents, regardless of whether either of 
her parents was naturalized, is a citizen, unless 
such parents were temporarily in the United 
States. 

A woman citizen of the United States who 
marries an alien thereby forfeits her citizen¬ 
ship, w^hether such alien is a resident of the 


8 


United States or not. Mackenzie v. Hare, 239 
U. S., 299. - 

REGISTRATION. 

When registration is required, women shall 
register in the same manner as men. 

The votes of women may be sw/orn in in the 
same manner as those of men. 

In registering, a wmman should state her 
Christian name. For example: Mary Smith 
and not Mrs. John Smith. 

In registering, a woman should state her 
exact age in number of years. 

OFFICERS FOR WHOM WOMEN MAY VOTE. 


STATE. 

Electors of President and Vice President of 
United States; 

Trustees of University of Illinois. 

DISTRICT. 

Member of State Board of Equalization; 
Trustees of Sanitary District, including 
President. 

COUNTY. 

County Surveyor; 

Members of Board of Assessors; 

Members of Board of Review. 

TOWNSHIP. 

Supervisor; 

Assistant Supervisor; 

Town Clerk-; 

Assessor; 

Collector; 

Highway Commissioners; 

Poundmaster or other officer elected at town 
meeting. 

CITY. 

Mayor;. 

Aldermen; 

City Clerk; 

City Treasurer; 

City Attorney; 


9 


Mayor and Commissioners in cities which 
have adopted the Commission Form of 
Municipal Government act. 

Where the following offices are created by 
ordinance and the manner of filling them is 
provided to be by election: 

City Collector; 

Marshal; 

Superintendent of Streets; 

Corporation Counsel; 

Comptroller; 

Library Directors. 

Women may also vote for candidates for 
other city offices whose creation and manner 
of being filled are provided for in the same 
mode. 

MIXAGE. 

Village Clerk; 

Members of Board of Trustees; 

Library Directors. 

SCHOOL. 

School Directors in School Districts; 

President and Members of Board of Educa¬ 
tion (Plummer v. Yost, 144 Ill,, 68); 

School Trustees in Townships; 

Members of Township High School Board of 
Education. 

AT PRIMARY ELECTIONS. 

For such offices as women may vote for at 
the election for which such primary is held. 
Hurd’s Statutes, 1916, chapter 46, paragraph 494, 
People V. Byers, 271 Ill., 600. 

OFFICERS FOR WHOM WOMEN MAY NOT 

VOTE. 


STATE. 

Governor; 

Lieutenant Governor; 
Secretary of State; 

Auditor of Public Accounts; 
Attorney General; 


10 


Treasurer; 

Superintendent of Public Instruction; 

Clerk of the Supreme Court; 

Congressmen at Large; 

United States Senator; 

Delegates at Large and Alternates to National 
Nominating Conventions {People v. Byers, 271 
Ill., 600). 


DISTRICT. 

Delegates and Alternates to National Nom¬ 
inating Conventions; 

Judge of the Supreme Court; 

Judges of the Circuit Court; 

Clerk of the Appellate Court; 

Representative in Congress; 

State Senator; 

State Representatives; 

State Central Committeemen {People v. Byers, 
271 Ill., 600); 

Precinct Committeemen {People v. Byers, 271 
Ill., 600); 

Park Trustees; 

Park Commissioners. 

COUNTY. 

County Judge; 

Probate Judge; 

County Clerk; 

Probate Clerk; 

Circuit Clerk; 

Recorder of Deeds; 

Treasurer; 

Sheriff; 

State’s Attorney; 

Superintendent of Schools {People v. English. 
139 Ill., 622) ; 

Coroner; 

County Commissioners {People v. Czarnecki, 
265 Ill., 489); 

County Auditor; 

Judges of Superior Court of Cook County; 
Clerk of Superior Court of Cook County; 
Clerk of the Criminal Court of Cook County; 


11 


Highway Commissioners (in counties not 
under township organization); 

District Clerk (in road districts in counties 
not under township organization). 

TOWNSHIP. 

Poundmaster at township election (not town 
meeting); 

Justices of the Peace; 

Constables ; 

Library Directors. 


CITY. 

Police Magistrate; 

Judge of City Court; 

Clerk of City Court; 

Chief Justice of Municipal Court of Chicago; 

Associate Judges of Municipal Court of Chi¬ 
cago; 

Clerk of Municipal Court of Chicago; 

Bailiff of Municipal Court of Chicago; 

Ward Committeemen in cities of over 200,000.. 

PROPOSITIONS FOR WHICH WOMEN MAY 
VOTE. 

Every question or proposition submitted to 
a vote of the electors of any city, village, town,, 
or other political division of the State, which is 
submitted under a statutory provision and not 
under a constitutional provision. Scown w 
Czarnecki, 264 Ill., 305. 

For example, the following propositions: 

(1) To abolish the poll tax; 

(2) To adopt or abolish the single highway 
commissioner system; 

(3) To divide an incorporated town, under 
paragraph 26, chapter 139, Hurd’s Revised 
Statutes; 

(4) To levy an additional tax for maintain¬ 
ing a city park; ' 

(5) To purchase or locate a schoolhouse site; 

(6) To issue bonds by a city, village, incor¬ 
porated town, township, school district, park 


district, road district, drainage district, or 
other political division of the State; 

(7) To issue bonds by a county, which will 
not require the assessment of taxes the aggre¬ 
gate of which will exceed 75c per $100 valuation 
(Constitution, article 9, section 8); 

(8) Every referendum election, except those 
provided for in the Constitution: 

(9) Every vote taken at annual or special 
town meeting. 

PROPOSITIONS FOR WHICH WOMEN 
MAY NOT VOTE. 

[A] Any question or proposition submitted 
to a vote under any constitutional provision. 

For example, the following propositions: 

(1) To amend the Constitution: 

(2) To amend the Banking act; 

(3) To assess county taxes the aggregate of 
which will exceed 75c per $100 valuation (Con¬ 
stitution, article 9, section 8 j; 

(4) To issue bonds by a county, which will 
require the assessment of taxes, the aggregate 
of which will exceed 75c per $100 valuation 
(Constitution, article 9, section 8); 

(5) To divide a county or have any part 
stricken fr'om or added thereto; 

(6) To remove a county seat; 

(7) To adopt or discontinue township or¬ 
ganization; 

(8) To sell or lease the Illinois and Michi¬ 
gan Canal or any part thereof; 

(9) To create a new bonded indebtedness in 
the city of Chicago other than for refunding 
purposes; 

(10) To annex or disconnect territory from 
the city of Chicago; 

(11) To approve any act of the General 
Assembly in regard to the municipal govern¬ 
ment of the city of Chicago, under section 34 
of article 4 of the Constitution. 

[B] Any question or proposition submitted 
to voters who are not the electors of an or- 


ganized city, village, town, or other political 
division of the State. 

For example, the following propositions: 

(1) To organize a high school district under 
the Township High School act of 1911 
{People V. Peltier, 265 Ill., 630; People v. 
Militzer, 272 Ill., 387); 

(2) To annex unincorporated territory by 
women living in such unincorporated territory; 

(3) To annex for township high school pur¬ 
poses a school township or a part thereof; 

(4) To organize a village; 

(6) To organize a new town, under para¬ 
graph 26, chapter 139, Hurd’s Revised Statutes. 

[C] Preferential presidential primaries. 

WOMEN MAY SIGN PETITIONS. 

(1) For nominations for such offices as they 
may vote for, either at the primary or general 
election; 

(2) For a referendum vote on such proposi¬ 
tions as they may vote on at such referendum 
elections. 


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